Greenpeace slaps back at big oil bullies

Created by London agency Don’t Panic, and directed by Martin Stirling through Partizan, this powerful film for Greenpeace International sees Bardem play a terrifying tailor stitching up Yasmin Finney into a silencing polysemous 'suit'.   

Wealthy corporate polluters use Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) to drown activists, journalists and non-profit organisations in legal fees, drain their time and resources, and ultimately make the cost of dissent too high. 

US-based fossil fuel pipeline company Energy Transfer has been waging back-to-back SLAPPs against Greenpeace for nearly a decade in a blatant attempt to quell free speech, erase Indigenous leadership of the Standing Rock movement, and punish solidarity with peaceful resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Big Oil companies Shell, Total, and ENI have also filed SLAPPs against Greenpeace entities in recent years. Oscar-winning actor and activist Javier Bardem commented: “I made this film with Greenpeace because they're fighting a monumental legal battle about free speech, but really it's about something much bigger: widespread attempts to silence activism. The question is not why to speak out. But how could we not, if we want to have the same freedom in the future?”

Emmy Award-nominated UK actress Yasmin Finney commented: “The right to protest in the UK is a huge battle. People demanding better is what built our country, but increasingly it's becoming criminalised. Not enough people believe or see that our rights are really under threat, and that's why we made this film: Greenpeace's legal fight against Energy Transfer is one example of resistance, but there are many more. Bullies respond to strength and togetherness, and that's what we need more of right now.”